Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Shares Acquired by Wallington Asset Management LLC

Wallington Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,062 shares of the information services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the quarter. Alphabet makes up approximately 1.8% of Wallington Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Wallington Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Alphabet were worth $11,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GOOG. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 10,597 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its position in Alphabet by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 6,093 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 11.9% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 109,878 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $16,730,000 after acquiring an additional 11,646 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its position in Alphabet by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 15,068 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $2,123,000 after acquiring an additional 4,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Partners LTD. boosted its position in Alphabet by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 7,446 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.26% of the company’s stock.

Alphabet Price Performance

Alphabet stock opened at $187.39 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.05. Alphabet Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.83 and a 1 year high of $187.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.15 and a current ratio of 2.15.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The information services provider reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.38. Alphabet had a net margin of 25.90% and a return on equity of 29.52%. The business had revenue of $80.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.75 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alphabet Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Alphabet Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. Alphabet’s payout ratio is currently 12.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director John L. Hennessy sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.56, for a total transaction of $127,648.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,991 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,043.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Amie Thuener O’toole sold 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.67, for a total transaction of $113,668.94. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,284 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,764.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,288 shares of company stock valued at $25,345,053 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GOOG shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Alphabet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Alphabet from $154.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.86.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc offers various products and platforms in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Canada, and Latin America. It operates through Google Services, Google Cloud, and Other Bets segments. The Google Services segment provides products and services, including ads, Android, Chrome, devices, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Play, Search, and YouTube.